Thursday, September 20, 2007

McNabb QB-Race Debate: McNabb weighs in with his own blog post over at YardBarker, which has found a nice little niche offering itself as a p.r. outlet for athletes. (And I'm not saying that to diminish it. As long as the athletes play it straight with readers, that's great. Look what it did for Greg Oden's cachet.)

Kudos to Dan Steinberg on the insightful take on this story I should have had on Tuesday morning. (I'm happy to admit it: Those who say the "Rex Grossman Example" is a poor one might be right.)

I think it's important to point out that white columnists are ripping McNabb while black columnists are saying, "Well, obviously." That's as intriguing as the original sentiment, because if anything is "obvious," it's that there's a racial-perspective issue among sports columnists. As usual, mainstream sports columnists, in general, are – across the board – overly shrill and mostly over-simplified to the point of inanity. But that's the job description.

Today's Must-Read: With Leather's Matt Ufford (aka KSK's Captain Caveman) is one of the most talented writers ever created by the enema that is the sports-blog universe. There are moments, however, when he absolutely crushes a topic. He's like vintage Lewis Black. Recently, KSK had a post putting a bounty on Tom Brady's knees. Ufford comes back with a "counterpoint" that is dazzling. (The only problem is that he seems to think that Pats fans haven't yet reached the level of insufferableness of, say, Yankees fans. He's wrong; they have, but it's a total "Boston sports" insufferableness than the Pats specifically.)

By the way, Belichick responded to the talk about 16-0 (shouldn't that be 19-0, Boston Herald?): "That's so ridiculous."

Here's the new meme about this story: That the presumed whistle-blower Eric Mangini has blown himself out of a future in the NFL, because teams won't trust he won't go blabbing. Nothing like encouraging the league's cult of secrecy. Cripes: It's a GOOD thing, not a bad thing, that he turned in his mentor. It's like the NFL team front-offices are poster guys for the "Stop Snitching" campaign.

T.O. fined $7,500 for TD celebration, when he pretended to "videotape" the cameraman, using the football as a mock camera. I actually thought it was pretty clever of him (it topped Chad Johnson's leap into the Dawg Pound, although that was ballsy if nothing else).

Indians sweep Tigers: Cleveland's magic number is 3. Concentrate on the Yankees and Red Sox all you want; I think it will be three AL pennants in a row for the representative from the Central.

Yankees: 1.5 GB Red Sox.

MLB Milestone Watch: Pettitte 200.

Is Albert Pujols' season over?

Dale Earnhardt Jr to drive car No. 88: I've mentioned a lot that numbers in NASCAR matter more than numbers in any other sport; they are part of the drivers' iconography. What makes Junior's new number so inspired is that -- unable to use his old No. 8 -- he simply co-opted it, even doubling it up.

More MLB: Here's a first-hand (I guess it's second-hand... now, through me, third-hand) account of Mark Cuban at the Cubs game on Monday night. God, I wish I was there for that. It's like the baseball-fan equivalent of hearing that LeBron has shown up at RuckerPark; you want to get the text message and run over to the Wrigley bleachers to see it for yourself.

That Sabres super-sell-out for the Rich Stadium game: I leave it to the best and most astute hockey analyst I know – Eric McErlain – for the definitive take. The sell-out is good. Even great. It might be the Event of the Year in the NHL and the template for future "event"-style options for a league reduced to mainstream irrelevancy. But there were some ticket problems that real Sabres fans ran into.

CFB Top 25 BlogPoll analysis: Every week, I eagerly anticipate BlogPoll impresario Brian Cook's analysis of the latest Top 25 results from the bloggers involved in the poll. Here are the results, and as he points out, the BlogPoll's ranking of LSU at No. 1 (proud to be part of that group) where the AP and Coaches do not is a source of pride.

Speaking of Cook, Zach over at The Big Picture continues his terrific interview series with bloggers with a Q&A with Cook.

CFB: Notre Dame should be ashamed of themselves for not releasing Demetrius Jones from his scholarship so he can play elsewhere. (Cripes: This team could use all the good karma it can get. This is the opposite.)

CFB Recruiting: Apparently, I wasn't the only one blown away by the gameday atmosphere at the Swamp on Saturday. Five-star recruit Will "The Thrill" Hill of New Jersey, who will play strong safety in college, committed to Florida.

(Dovetailing recruiting with the McNabb story: In recruiting circles, there is a non-specific positional designation known as "athlete," which turns out to be code for "Black QB who will be forced to switch positions." It also turns out that the vast majority of these "athletes" are black.)

Sonny Vaccaro speaks at HarvardLawSchool: I would like him to recognize his own premier place at the forefront of turning the prep basketball scene into the morass that it is. Then I might be willing to listen to him talk about "reform." However, I believe he and I agree that the NBA age limit is ludicrous.

Talk Like a Pirate Day... was yesterday! And I missed it in the usual a.m. blog post. I'm sorry about that. Yarr. (What... too late?) Anyway, to make up for it, here's a must-read post from Orson Swindle of EDSBS, who has a fetish for wannabe-pirate Mike Leach of Texas Tech and an ear for pirate talk like he was Johnny Depp's stunt-double in POTC.

Finally: Epic Carnival has put together the "10 Types of Sports Bloggers." Wait: Where's the "Formerly Mainstream Media But Now Exposed For The Shallow Fraud That He Was" blogger type?

I have one theory regarding the whole black athlete thing, and the black culture itself: they do it to themselves. I live down here in the deep south (couple hours' drive from ATL). There are gobs of contests, pageants, and events that are labeled "black", such as "Miss Black Augusta", etc. Do you know the uproar it would cause if some of the white folks got together and created a white-only event? How about "White History Month"? If they want equal treatment (which they claim), then they need to stop using their own labels. I am not prejudiced nor a racist - I just think it is hypocritical to expect to be "equal" while they work so hard to be "separate".

I can't imagine a player not knowing what is coming down the pike for him in the depth chart. They didn't recruit Clausen to watch games. Second, Jones had the opportunity to start and sucked (not that ND as a whole did any better).

I have to mention this Isiah Thomas tidbit from WFAN 660AM in NY City, Isiah Thomas apparently doesn't like to be disturbed while watching his Soap Opera every day came out in his trial.

Wow. I have always hated Isiah Thomas as a GM and still can't understand how Dolan hired a functionally retarded person to run the team. I also hate his whiny high pitched voice and effeminate demeanor. However this is the proof. Watches soap operas.

Thank god my wife doesn't watch soap operas or I would have to bitch slap her around a bit. (Just joking, in 18 years I have never hit her.)

I am a big Syracuse fan and therefore a Donovan McNabb fan as well. Without a doubt, racism exists in our society through all levels. But I don't think that was McNabb's point. Ironically, he is in one of the professions where there is a lot less racism than in the rest of the world. I think a black lawyer, doctor, engineer has to deal with a hundred fold more discrimination because of his race than a black QB. I believe McNabb truly feels that some of the criticism is due to racism, however I have to disagree. Philly is just a tough town. If he won that Super Bowl he wouldn't be getting the same criticism. He played terribly there and has really suffered with injuries.

People say how Manning and Brady don't receive the same criticism. First off, they are better than he is - period. Brady has 3 rings. Manning received a huge amount of criticism before he got his ring for not being able to win the big one.

If you assume that the odds of winning any baseball game aer about 50-50, then the chance of Detroit losing 3 in a row to Cleveland, Boston losing 3 in a row to Toronto and the Yanks beating the Orioles (who have destroyed the Yanks so far this year) was about 512:1. Just an unbelievable and improbably turn of events. 5-5 clinches the WC now for the Yanks.

I watched the Cubs-Reds a bit after the Yankees and Mets finished their games. On a ball to right field, Griffey Jr looked awful in misplaying a hop allowing an error when the runner went to 2nd. The very next play he could barely throw the ball back in after apparently injuring his groin. He had to leave in agony. With all the injuries, he is just shy of 600 career HRs. I wonder what causes all those hamstring and groin pulls he suffers.

Once you sprain something, it is never the same again. It may feel fine until you take that one bad step and then bang, it is injured all over again. Still, you would think that they would have him on some serious stretching plan to avoid that happening again. Amazing how he suffers and really a shame since he has spent so much time on the IR list.

The only funny part about Chad jumping into the dog pound was the guy throwing his beer on him. Is Chad just a poor man's Terrel Owens?

TO is a clubhouse cancer for sure everywhere he has been. However I find his TD celebrations very creative and funny. The camera spying thing made me crack up. Chad putting on the jacket saying HOF 20?? was pathetic self promotion.

Cycledan:Griffey also struck out the inning before and it looked like he had hurt something on the swing, but in the finger/wrist area. Now I wonder if he didn't tweak his leg then and tried to tough it out. Amazing how the ball always finds the weak spot.

Props to Dunn for making the catch on the fly ball. And a dud to the umpire who missed the catch, although I still think Theriot scores.

TD celebrations are fun, who cares.I wanna see whoever the heisman front runner is do the pose in his last game of the season when he scores. ala desmond howard against OSU. I hate michigan, but that was cool.

Dunn made a great catch, but Theriot still scores so the net result is the same -- 2 outs, runner on 1st base.

I understand the "athlete" recruting phenomenon, but I don't think it is that big of a deal. Starting at the lowest levels in sports, teams put their most athletically gifted person at the most valuable position -- QB in football, SS in baseball, etc. As teams get better and more talented (hs, college, NFL), that "most gifted athlete" now must fit a position, as not every option QB in high school necessarily translates as a college QB or even a RB. But it isn't just the "athlete" recruiting, it happens all over the place. My college roommate was recruited by all the Big 10 schools as a defensive back (his brother was a star at MSU and in the NFL), but he chose the only college that recruited him as a QB. He tried for 2 years to be a QB in college, then finally shifted to DB and was very good. High School positions are based on the need of the HS. College positions are based on the need of the college. Players who are athletically gifted will continue to get opportunities to play at higher levels, but they may have to be willing to do something different to continue to compete.

cycledan, stop with the odds, and probabilities. because here is the problem with all that stuff you have been bringing up for months now. Human Error. its so freaking annoying that each time the yanks have inched closer you make mention of the same crap. bottom line is this, the yanks got scorching hot and the sox have played for the most part, good ball in the second half, i believe a top 5 record in baseball. but the yanks have just been sizzling. so in a nutshell, shut the hell up with those odds and garbage. or should the yanks just focus on the Wild Card. another ridiculous statement people were saying.

CJ jumped in the pound. Actually CJ's were much more entertaining than TO's. It is just that CJ got fined regularly and much heavier so he stopped. Now he is trying to celebrate but not get fined so his are lame now compared to prior years.

The Riot still scores on the sac to Dunn. Since D Lee was out at second it counted as out number two so no real harm was done.

I feel for Grif. All he has ever done is play hard. I wish him the best and to come back next year and get 600.

One final note, thanks Houston for pitching rookies this week to the Brewers. Assclowns! I'll remember that next year Drayton.

The guys on "Baseball Tonight" last night were saying that the Red Sox could relax now and not worry about the division, since Cleveland swept Detroit and handed them at least a Wild Card. So Kruk et al thought it was ok to rest Manny and Okajima and maybe even Gagne and Papelbon.

That's absolute crap! I'd love to have a first round playoff match-up against a team that completely folded down the stretch, with the largest collapse in MLB history (14.5 games) and coming into the Playoffs having lost 5 of 10 or something.

Sure, the Red Sox should give up any chance at Home Field Advantage, or even any remote possibility of picking which day they start on to line up their pitchers and such. It doesn't matter how you get there, just get into the playoffs.... right?

@natfan. get to the playoffs is all that matters. homefield really means nothing in baseball apparently. but cycledan will tell you that 54% of teams with homefield win playoff series. but i still gotta believe that the angels are best built for the run.

Last year it was the Tigers who had the big collapse and the Twins who came roaring from behind to take the Central and claim the best record in the league. Playoff results? Twins swept in ALDS, Tigers reached the WS. All that matters is getting to October. That being said, GO TRIBE!

and the white sox limped in 2005 towards the post season. the red sox got smacked around at the end of 04 by the yanks in september, not to mention the choke. the marlins were the last hot as hell team to end the season and win it all. correct?

Not releasing DJ from his schollie just means he has to pay his own way to NIU this year before the Huskies can give him a scholarship next year. NIU doesn't even have a schollie to spare this year, so denying him the release is essentially meaningless.

Cub fans and their whining. Without even considering the fact that the Brewers almost always suck against pitchers they have never seen before, you are griping about the Astros not pitching Woody Williams (gascan) or Roy Oswalt (home with his about-to-be-induced wife).

No mention of the Brewers pitching a rookie either.

Bottom line: Stop bitching and worry about winning your games. And you wonder why I hate the Cubs.

No they DID NOT limp towards the postseason. They still played nearly .600 ball in the last 2 months and had one 5 game losing streak. Cleveland was playing .750 ball from the beginning of August to the middle of September. But I'm guessing you were probably reading the Chicago Tribune which was writing (and praying) about a White Sox choke. We all know what happened after that. There was no "choking", its just that the hottest team in baseball played like madman for a 6 week stretch.

"There was no "choking", its just that the hottest team in baseball played like madman for a 6 week stretch."

Hmmm... sound familiar? Boston is playing .560 ball since the ASB (37-29), not like they're getting lit up every night. And before these last 2 series with NYY & TOR, they were playing at a .600 clip, going 36-24.

By comparison, New York has played out of their minds, going 44-21 since the ASB (.677?!?)

Nothing the Sox can do about the Yankees' ability to win games except win the head-to-head matchups, something they haven't been able to do in awhile.

I have to seriously seriously question the decision to shut down Bucholtz with about a month left in the season.

I understanding saving his arm for the future, but you do that when you have no shot of making the playoffs (see: Shields, TB)

As someone who worked for a MLB Front Office, I'm wondering what the hell they were thiking. Because 90% of people in that position would NOT have done whqat the Sox did. It's no coincidence that this slide has occured since that Gem he pitched in early Sept.

Dan~ Please do not jump on the Tribe bandwagon. You will probably mess with the wheels or something.

I think Chad Johnson is entertaining. Terrell Owens is an egomaniac.

Donovan McNabb sounded absolutely ridiculous. He needs to talk to Tim Couch, Kelly Holcomb, Trent Dilfer, Jeff Garcia, Charlie Frye...who am I missing?? Last time I checked, all of these guys were being lamblasted here in Cleveland and they are all white. How long has Donovan been the QB in Philly?? C'mon, he should know by now that that is one of the hardest towns to be an athlete, and if he won them a championship, they'd lighten up.

rafael~ That is my Series pick too! Indians-Cubs.

My pessimistic husband won't get excited for the Tribe until they clinch it...he said he keeps getting flashbacks from '05. Totally different scenario, but he's a goof! haha

big d, as a Yankee fan, I have always said that in 2004 I thought the Sox had the better team. The two teams had played something like 70 games in 2 years, with each winning 35 games. The first three games to me were just variance, a fluke, I always worried because the Yankees were not as good in 04 as their past teams and the Sox were better. Either way, its supposedly "the biggest choke ever" Likewise, it doesnt matter how Boston has played lately, if the Yanks win the division, it will be an "epic choke , a great collapse."

I doubt any of y'all care but Chelsea FC got ride of Joe-sway Morienho this morning. It is all over the soccer channels. I think their owner is the Steinbrenner of the premier league. Chelsea in turmoil, ManYoo with lots of injuries, looks like Arsenal might have a chance at the title this year.

As far as the ND situation - if we moan about the failure of schools to teach their student-athletes lessons in character, hard work, perseverance, etc., why would we pile on a school that has chosen to hold one of its student athletes to his commitment to it? If Leak (as long as this page has gone Gator-rific) had complained about not being THE GUY on qb running plays last year, everyone would have moaned about his "lack of commitment/leadership" and questioned his heart, etc. But when an athlete who encounters adversity then turns tail and runs to an easier locale for his ego, we suggest the institution should allow him to fall (dive?) through the cracks or else risk karmic payback?

What lesson will confer a greater benefit on Mr. Jones (who, dare I say it, probably won't be playing on Sundays): "if you're not top dog, pull a Baltimore Colts," or "if you encounter a more talented individual, the only way you will succeed against them is through dedication, hard work, and perseverance?" Complain about athletes who act entitled all you want, the instant rush to hate ND has allowed a blind endorsement of such "me first" behavior.

(NB: I'm not giving Weis/ND credit for thinking any of the above; he is, most likely, being spiteful about the manner in which it was handled. BUT that doesn't change the dogpile that has happened nationally on this issue.)

You are incorrect. The NFL told TO that he did nothing wrong with the goalpost because hiding behind it doesn't count as using it apparently. It was using the ball as a prop that was the punishment because he used it as a camera and you aren't aloun to use the ball as a prop.

The thing that makes this a story isn't that it's about TO, it's about the fact that they effectivly fined someone for something that is a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Using the ball as a prop isn't a fine, it's a penalty.

Clearly Goodell was thinking...A. It's TO.B. A player made fun of me.C. TO was the player that made fun of me.

Two posts really got to me today and I know that I'm late, stayed home sick today and didn't get up until 10:30 which was great.

The Jones kid left the football team and Notre Dame with out saying a word to anyone. I don't think that it's a personal vindetta, but a message to others that it's not acceptable. That goes for players in and out of the ND program. Since when does getting benched in the first game mean you have to leave town on the 11:15 pm bus?

The "athlete" position is something that has been created with the video game world about 10 years ago. I coached a kid in high school that was a great qb; smart, great arm, but only 5'10" and for some D-1 schools, that just ain't big enough boy. He was offered scholarships at a handful of ACC schools...at safety, but if he went down to 1-AA he could remain at QB. Instead chose Naval Academy and QB and 4 years later he is at outside linebacker.

If athlete is code for black player is slow the code for a white player not explosive. The NFL is dominated by African American players because they are better athletes so I wish we could all stop whining about race.

McNabb's comments about how he takes more criticism because he's black then a white QB are such crap. Other than Rush Limboa, he hasn't been criticized unfairly. And Peyton Manning used to get killed because he couldn't win a playoff game. Manning won the superbowl and now people talk about how good he is. Here's a clue Donovan, stop losing games, stop throwing the ball high or into the ground, stop getting hurt, and win a super bowl then you'll bearly have any criticism directed your way for the rest of you career.

The thing is that Rush Limbaugh really wasn't criticizing McNabb as much as he was criticizing the media. He claimed that McNabb was a mediocre QB but was overrated because the media wanted a star black QB to talk about. But the fact that a white person brought it up made everyone think he was trashing McNabb when really it seems he's trashing the media. Yesterday I found something that compared McNabb's numbers to Brad Johnson at the time, and Johnson's numbers were better. And NO ONE says that Johnson is a star QB.

Oh and if anyone cares, Landis was found guilty of doping and stripped of his TdF win.

didn't stuart scott say something stupid bout tim dwights speed during the highlights a few years ago, somthing like "he's got speed for a white boy." not sure if it was him or someone else and they got in a lil trouble. but it was funny.

i was just looking at the rotations that are set up for the last few games...the sox just came off the top of the jays rotation, and now the yanks get the bottom side...all while the sox are going into tampa to get the top of tampas rotation, leaving the bottom of the rotation for the yanks next week. I'd say the odds are better than good that the yanks pass the sox this week. dammit

I just found it comical that Houston called the Cubs to let them know they were starting rookies. This was mentioned on air during the game last night. I understand the birth of a child. Only other good reason is being hurt. As for Williams, I've got $20 that says if he was still with the Cards he would have pitched.

I have no problem with them not making the post season. Would I like it? Of course, I'd be an idiot to not like it over missing it almost every year since I've been alive. Do I want a WS win? Of course, duh.

I used to joke in HS that they would win in 2007 & 2008 so they could have 100 year back to back championships. Not that funny now.

As for Williams, I've got $20 that says if he was still with the Cards he would have pitched.

And given this year's "rotation", I'd agree. Hell, Wells & Reyes are still getting regular work...which makes me want to drive to St. Louis and take a blunt object to their throwing arms (and then put a curve in the bill of Reyes' cap).

I think the call was made in a attempt to cut off the speculation that an ex-Brewer (Cooper) was helping out his old team. And then, as usual, everyone overreacted. Leave it to Houston generate this controversy.

Personally, I'm still waiting for the black cat/goat/Leon Durham/Steve Bartman moment. It's coming and I just know Little Z will be involved.

That's a stat worth reviewing....whether or not teams luck out against which parts of the rotations they get. Like, the Red Sox are facing Kazmir AGAIN Friday night. This time with Beckett, who I don't remember off the top of my head facing Tampa more than once this season in 5 previous series. The Red Sox have also drawn Andy Pettitte every Yankees series, I think. And Tampa ALWAYS faces Wakefield, albeit rigged to do so the last couple of times.

I personally would have rather faced Woody Williams than any of these rookies that the young Brewer hitters haven't ever seen. The Brewers would hammer Woody. The rookies, you never know, especially with the Brewers, who seem to perform like junk when they haven't seen a pitcher before. So from my point of view, the Astros not trotting Woody out there actually hurt the Brewers more than help them.

Either way, it isn't anything to whine about. You still have to play. The Cubs got the Cardinals in the midst of their Ankiel controversy, and there was no whining about that. Win your games and you don't have to worry about it. Cubbies like to blame goats and guys named Bartman for their troubles I guess.

Sparty give Cycledan a break, hes a pessimist. Every time the Yankees chip a game off the Red Sox lead, CycleDan posts "I still don't think the Yankees will catch the Sox". Come on Cycledan, you're a Yankees fan, have some faith! Red Sox fans are supposed to have doubt, not Yankees fans.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.